


you can choose your own path (but you cannot choose what comes of your choice)

by secretfeanorian



Series: the worst things in life come free to us [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Maglor is secretly not okay with Odin being called the Allfather, dicussions of views on fate, mentions of Morgoth; Dagor Dagorath and Turin, surprise character study of Thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-24 05:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1592615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretfeanorian/pseuds/secretfeanorian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Do elves believe in fate, Thor asks and as always, the simple question sparks more speculation than the asker intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can choose your own path (but you cannot choose what comes of your choice)

_Every path you have trod, through wilderness, through war, has led to this road.  
  
_ “Do elves believe in fate?” Thor asks Maglor one day and Maglor has to think for a few minutes before he can form an answer.  
  
“The song of the universe has been sung already,” He finally answers, “So I suppose you could say that yes, elves do believe in fate to a certain degree.”  
  
“Song?” Bucky asks and Maglor nods.  
  
“The universe was sung into being. The great Theme is the story of the universe and it is reaching its final verse.”  
  
“What happens when it ends?” Steve’s voice is curious, but Maglor feels a note of nervousness in his voice.  
  
“Dagor Dagorath,” Maglor replies, flicking a braid out of his eyes. He can’t disguise his own uneasiness at the mention of the battle and he quickly has the full attention of the Avengers.  
  
“That doesn’t sound good,” Tony quips.  
  
“That probably has something to do with the fact that there’s nothing good about it,” is Maglor’s response. “Dagor Dagorath is the final battle of Arda Marred. Morgoth will escape the Void and he will once again wage war on the free peoples of Arda.”  
  
“I’m going to assume that’s bad,” Clint says sarcastically from his perch on the counter.  
  
“Morgoth is the Black Foe of the World. He is the one who san discord into the first great Theme and he is the source of all evil in creation.”  
  
Silence falls across the room. It is finally broken by Tony saying, “So definitely pretty bad.”  
  
Maglor snorts. “You could say that,” he mutters bitterly.  
  
“Have you ever since this dude?” Clint asks curiously and hurriedly apologizes when Maglor turns to glare at him.  
  
After a few minutes of silent shaming, Maglor answers with “He killed my grandfather and my half-uncle.” Silence returns, but Maglor is the one who breaks it when he hisses out, “And he tortured my older brother.”  
  
“Does the Theme say what will happen to Morgoth?” Steve quietly asks and Maglor finds it difficult to appreciate that Steve is trying to change the subject enough so that it’s not so directly personal.  
  
“The Theme says everything,” he answers all the same, “The question you should be asking is ‘do I know what the theme says about Morgoth’s fate’ and your answer would be yes. At the end of Dagor Dagorath, Túrin son of Húrin will separate his head from his body. After which the second Theme will be sung.” He stops, considering for a moment whether or not to include his next thought, then takes the plunge. “It is not until then that I can hope to see my father again. I can hope to see the rest of my family before then, but in all honestly, it is unlikely.”  
  
“Why, because he wanted revenge for his father’s murder?” Bucky bursts out and when Maglor looks at him, his expression is halfway to murderous.  
  
“There are other reasons,” he says quietly, sadly, “I don’t make the rules.” Tony opens his mouth to ask another question, but Maglor shakes his head and Tony shuts it again. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says and Tony nods.  
  
Maglor wants to get up and leave the room, but he doesn’t and the subject doesn’t come up again.  
  
The next day, however, Natasha makes a comment about Quendi being a rather musical race from what she’s heard and he nods. “The Ainur are the ones who sang the universe into being though, not the Quendi. Iluvatar designed the Theme, but the Ainur are the ones who sang it,” he tells her, “Morgoth is the most powerful of their race,” he adds, almost as an afterthought. “The Valar are the 14 members of the Ainurian race that are the guardians of Arda. Manwë is their lord as Lord of the Airs and of Eagles.”  
  
Bucky, who had been sitting on the couch, perks up. “Is that why there was a bald eagle sitting on the balcony railing watching you?”  
  
Maglor nods. “Eagles are the eyes and ears of Manwë.”  
  
“We should have a culture discussion day where you and Thor just talk about your respective people,” Tony says from somewhere and Maglor hums not quite in agreement.  
  
“How do the Valar and the Asgardians…” Natasha draws off, making small hand gestures that indicate she’s looking for words that are at this moment eluding her.  
  
Maglor shrugs. “The Valar and the Maiar and the Quendi came long before the Nine Realms and their supposed Allfather,” he tries not to scoff, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by either of the ex-assassins in the room. (He’s not sure where Tony is)  
  
Bucky and Natasha have a silent conversation, and then Bucky shifts and asks, “You disagree with Odin being called the Allfather?”  
  
Maglor shrugs again, as if to say _I’m indifferent_ , but he’s not fooling anyone with that, including himself. “Odin is not deserving of such a title. He is not a creator and if there’s one thing that must come last on his list of priorities, it is being a decent father,” He doesn’t think very highly of Odin from what little he knows and he’s sure the more he learns, the more that option will only solidify. “An Allfather is someone who lets their children do their own thing, lets them learn on their own if that is their desire, and who does not enforce things on them. An Allfather is not someone who says to their children _do with your life what you will_ but then chases and imprisons and refuses to let them do anything, even try to change, when they do not comply how he wanted them to; regardless of how they are not complying.”  
  
Natasha is silent. Maglor thinks he may have lost some of her respect right then. There is no mistaking who Maglor is speaking of. “Loki is what I could’ve been if my father had been the kind of father so many people who had never known him described him as and in the same respect, I am what Loki could’ve been had he been raised decently,” Maglor says quietly, trying to offer an apology and an explanation for bringing up a touchy subject, but not willing to apologize for how he feels.  
  
Natasha smiles, accepting the nervously-offered peace offering. “Well, I for one am glad that didn’t happen,” she says and Bucky nods. Maglor smiles back and the three fall into a comfortable silence.

* * *

“We see fate as more of a collection of predestined paths. It is not set in stone which path you will take and which paths you will take from that path, but what happens on the road between each crossroad is unchangeable. Most of those spaces will never be disturbed, but once one is disturbed, you cannot change what happens on it and you cannot go back,” he tells Thor a few days later and the blond Asgardian nods, seeing the sense in it.  
  
“That is fate,” he says after those few moments of consideration.  
  
“Not how most of your people would define it,” Maglor remarks and Thor shrugs.  
  
“My experiences here on Midgard have offered me a new perspective that most of my people have never had the opportunity to observe.”  
  
Maglor looks at Thor, thinking. He has a whole list of things flying through his head that he could ask Thor or say to Thor, but the only thing that comes out is _You would make a good king_.  
  
Thor shakes his head, but Maglor persists with the thought.  
  
“You may rather be a good man than a great king, but the fact remains that you could be a great king. I have seen many kings in my days, good kings and great kings and strong kings and weak kings and poor kings and horrible kings, but you are among those men that could be great kings if they so desired a crown. One of the things that makes them so is the lack of that desire. I just want you to know that,” he kicks the ground nervously, not sure why he had even started on the subject at all.  
  
Thor looks at him for a few minutes, then nods silently in acknowledgement and Maglor feels like it is some small achievement that he’s managed to do that to Thor after so many instances of the opposite being true. Thor finds his voice again quicker than Maglor ever had and quietly whispers, “I thank you.” Maglor pats him on the shoulder and thinks the Asgardian and him have finally come to a complete understanding of each other.


End file.
